Archive for November, 2008

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Who’s Who in America: Historic Retrospective

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Who’s Who in America: Historic Retrospective (PDF: 2.2 MB)

Someone in our company’s history was a scrupulous file keeper and to that person we owe much gratitude for the information we found on Who’s Who in America’s 110 year history. Stories, letters of interest and photographs were carefully archived, and in learning much about Who’s Who in America’s history, we were also treated to a lesson in our country’s history.

We hope the following pages provide readers with humor, insight and appreciation for Who’s Who in America. We acknowledge the place Who’s Who in Americahas earned in our culture and we strive to live up to the standards of our founding publisher, editors and those who have taken the helm over our long history.

Source: Marquis Who’s Who

Posted in History, Information Industry, Media Guides, Factbooks, Fact Sheets, Press Kits, Source File | No Comments »

IRS Announces 2009 Standard Mileage Rates

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

IRS Announces 2009 Standard Mileage Rates

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2009 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

  • 55 cents per mile for business miles driven
  • 24 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
  • 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

The new rates for business, medical and moving purposes are slightly lower than rates for the second half of 2008 that were raised by a special adjustment mid-year in response to a spike in gasoline prices. The rate for charitable purposes is set by law and is unchanged from 2008.

The business mileage rate was 50.5 cents in the first half of 2008 and 58.5 cents in the second half. The medical and moving rate was 19 cents in the first half and 27 cents in the second half.

The mileage rates for 2009 reflect generally higher transportation costs compared to a year ago, but the rates also factor in the recent reversal of rising gasoline prices. While gasoline is a significant factor in the mileage rate, other fixed and variable costs, such as depreciation, enter the calculation.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Posted in Fast Facts, Source File | No Comments »

City Crime Rankings 2008-2009

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

City Crime Rankings 2008-2009
From press release (PDF; 132 KB):

With the annual publication that brings the discussion of crime in U.S. cities and metropolitan areas into the national spotlight, CQ Press has released City Crime Rankings 2008-2009: Crime in Metropolitan America.

Ramapo, New York tops the list for the first time with the lowest city crime rate ranking in the United States, while at the opposite end, New Orleans, Louisiana has the highest. The new edition of City Crime Rankings features a significantly expanded introduction by criminologist Rachel Boba (Florida Atlantic University) that explains the formula used to compile the rankings and offers new insight into the methodology used by the editors. Dr. Boba also offers statistical analysis of the rankings, a comparative analysis of cities and metropolitan areas, and additional information and caveats regarding the analyzed data.

Ramapo earned the lowest city crime rate ranking with only 688 incidences of reported crime and no murders in 2007. Joining Ramapo among the lowest rankings are Mission Viejo California, which had the lowest ranking last year; Lake Forest, Chino Hills, and Thousand Oaks, California; and Newton, Massachusetts. New Orleans has the highest crime rate ranking, with 19,034 incidences of reported crime, 209 murders, and a percent change in violent crime rate of 199.1% across the past year. Behind New Orleans with the highest crime rate ranking are Camden, New Jersey; Detroit, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; and Oakland, California. The Logan region of Utah and Idaho tops the list for lowest crime rate ranking among U.S. metropolitan areas, while the Pine Bluff, Arkansas region has the nation’s highest crime rate ranking for metropolitan areas.

Crime rankings by city, metro area. Full publication available for purchase.

Source: CQ Press

Posted in Lists and Rankings, Source File | No Comments »

International Communications Market Report 2008…and other full-text reports on DocuTicker

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Posted 24 November 2008 on DocuTicker:
+ International Communications Market Report 2008 (UK – Office of Communications)
+ Health News Coverage in the U.S. Media (Kaiser Family Foundation)
+ Global Migration of the Highly Skilled (United Nations University)

Posted in Best of DocuTicker, Source File | No Comments »

News Briefs

Monday, November 24th, 2008

News Briefs

+ Gale Launches Part I of State Papers Online (Info Today NewsBreaks)

+ PBwiki Adds Document Management to Collaboration Suite (Info Today NewsBreaks)

+ Help for eBay Shoppers Who Can’t Spell (New York Times)

+ New Seattle library head: Susan Hildreth of California (Seattle Times)

Posted in Search News | No Comments »

Webcast — Tech Therapy: The Future of College Libraries

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Tech Therapy: The Future of College Libraries

Tech Therapists Scott Carlson and Warren Arbogast discuss what college libraries mean to campuses, the buildings’ changing aesthetics, and how they will be designed for future use.

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education

Posted in Libraries and Librarianship, Source File, Technology and Internet, Webcasts and Podcasts | No Comments »

Glossary for Scientology and Dianetics

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Glossary for Scientology and Dianetics
“This glossary has been provided to assist you in defining words and phrases you encounter in reading the Scientology and Dianetics websites. This is not meant to take the place of standard language or Scientology dictionaries, which should be referred to for any words that do not appear in the glossary.” From AA (attempted abortion) to withhold.

Source: Church of Scientology International

Posted in Glossaries | No Comments »

Tour the Legal Web’s New Sites

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Tour the Legal Web’s New Sites
Robert J. Ambrogi’s column for Law Technology News takes a look at:

Source: Law.com

Posted in Source File, Technology and Internet | No Comments »

The Wisdom of Crowds of Librarians Is on the Way—In Time: Reference Extract

Monday, November 24th, 2008

The Wisdom of Crowds of Librarians Is on the Way—In Time: Reference Extract

Google can sleep easier—for a while, at least. A flurry of press coverage suggesting that “radical, militant librarians” —as the FBI refers to members of this profession—were heading its way turns out to be a little previous. While experts from three top library and information science institutions have begun a process that they promise will lead to a new search engine with a new infrastructure designed to emphasize authoritative content, the process is at very early stages yet. According to R. David Lankes, Ph.D., director of the Information Institute of Syracuse (http://iis.syr.edu) and associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, a product roll-out for Reference Extract (http://referencextract.org) is not expected to take place until sometime in 2010. The other two institutions involved are the University of Washington’s Information School (www.ischool.washington.edu) and OCLC (www.oclc.org). The MacArthur Foundation (www.macfound.org) has provided a $100,000 planning grant, which should lead to a full proposal in 2009.

Source: Info Today NewsBreaks (BQ)

Posted in Information Literacy, Libraries and Librarianship, Search News, Web Search | No Comments »

2007 Records Fifth Consecutive Annual Increase in U.S. Doctoral Awards

Monday, November 24th, 2008

2007 Records Fifth Consecutive Annual Increase in U.S. Doctoral Awards

U.S. institutions awarded 48,079 doctorates in 2007, the highest number ever reported by the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) and an increase of 5.4% over 2006. This is the fifth consecutive annual increase in U.S. doctoral awards (table 1).

Source: National Science Foundation

Also available as PDF.

Posted in Education, Search News, Source File, Statistics | No Comments »

Resources of the Week — A Few Unusual Lists & Rankings

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Resources of the Week — A Few Unusual Lists & Rankings
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor

If you follow this feature regularly, you might remember that we’ve offered up collections of “niche” resources before — niche information, niche statistics, etc. This week, we offer up some unusual sources of lists & rankings — e.g., not from the fishing holes you already know about, such as Forbes.com or USNews.com.

+ TicketNews.com: Sellers Rankings and Events Rankings

TicketNews is a comprehensive resource for news, market analysis, event announcements, and information relating to the ticket industry. TicketNews keeps industry professionals and fans informed about tour dates, current and pending ticket resale legislation, rankings, ticket “steals and deals”, and more! TicketNews developed the algorithm for the exclusive weekly rankings of the industry’s top events and ticket sellers. The content is updated daily, with original articles from TicketNews reporters and an aggregation of 3rd party sources.

Here you can see lists — updated weekly — of the top primary ticket sales outlets (e.g., TicketMaster.com), top secondary ticket sales outlets (e.g., StubHub), and the top selling concert and sports events.

+ TMR Fan Cost Index

TMR’s exclusive Fan Cost Index (TM) survey, now in its sixteenth year, tracks the cost of attendance for a family of four.

The FCI includes:

  • Two adult average price tickets
  • Two child average price tickets
  • Four small soft drinks
  • Two small beers
  • Four hot dogs
  • Two programs
  • Parking
  • Two adult-size caps.

Rankings are available for the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL.

+ U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base, Country Rankings

Find the largest countries and areas for any year, 1950 to 2050.

Data, including projections, was last updated in June. See Population Estimates and Projections Methodology to see how the data is calculated.

+ Foundation Center: Top 100 U.S. Foundations by Asset Size

The list below includes the 100 largest U.S. grantmaking foundations ranked by the market value of their assets, based on the most current audited financial data in the Foundation Center’s database as of September 11, 2008. Fiscal records will be updated when more recent audited financial information is obtained.

Number one? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

+ American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery: Top surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures among men and women in 2007

Nearly 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2007, according to statistics released today by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The Aesthetic Society, which has been collecting multi-specialty procedural statistics since 1997 says the overall number of cosmetic procedures has increased 457 percent since the collection of the statistics first began. The most frequently performed procedure was Botox injections and the most popular surgical procedure was liposuction.

This is actually a press release — dated February 25, 2008 — offering trends and demographic data for 2007. It also includes frequency of cosmetic procedures by age group.

+ High Value Domain Name Sales – Full List 10/18/08

So what are domain names worth? The answer is that it depends. Like a lot of intellectual property, the vast majority of domain name sales bring prices in 3, 4, 5, or 6 figure range. Nevertheless, there have been roughly sixty seven transactions of a million dollars or more.

This year (2008) Fund.com at just under $10 Million tops the list so far. Pizza.com went for $2,605,000 while DataRecovery.com reportedly sold for $1,659,000. Domain Name Journal reports that Invest.com has sold for $1,015,000.

Assembled from Domain Name Journal, Namebio.com, Domain Name News, MSNBC, Forbes, and Reuters, here in descending order is the list (believed to be reasonably accurate)…

Of course, we always like to mention Gary’s venerable List of Lists — “a database of ranked listings of companies, people and resources freely available on the Internet” — hosted by Special Issues. If you’re not familiar with this resource, it’s well worth a good browse.

Posted in Lists and Rankings, Resource of the Week, Source File | No Comments »

FCC Releases Funding Year 2009 Eligible Services List for Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism

Monday, November 24th, 2008

FCC Releases Funding Year 2009 Eligible Services List for Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism (PDF; 103 KB)
By this public notice, the Commission releases the funding year 2009 Eligible Services List (ESL) for the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism (commonly known as E-rate) pursuant to section 54.522 of the Commission’s rules.1 On July 31, 2008, the Commission released a public notice seeking comment on the ESL proposed by the universal service fund’s administrator, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), for funding year 2009, as required by section 54.522.2 We decline to adopt any of the changes to the ESL proposed by USAC. As such, the funding year 2009 ESLwe release today is the same as the funding year 2008 ESL.

In addition, section 54.522 requires the Commission to issue a public notice attaching the final ESL for the upcoming funding year at least 60 days prior to the opening of the funding window forthe schools and libraries universal service program.3 We authorize USAC to open the annual application filing window no earlier than November 25, 2008. Because the filing window will open less than 60 days after the release of this public notice, we therefore waive on our own motion section 54.522 of the Commission’s rules requiring publication of the ESL at least 60 days prior to the commencement of the filing window.4 We conclude that this action will facilitate the application process for E-rate beneficiaries applying for discounts for funding year 2009.

+ Eligible Services List (PDF; 372 KB)

Source: Federal Communications Commission

Posted in Libraries and Librarianship, Search News, Technology and Internet | No Comments »

The Online Search Party: A Way to Share the Load

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

The Online Search Party: A Way to Share the Load

Opportunities for social networking abound on the Internet, but not when it comes to one standard job: using a browser and search engine to comb the Web for information. That task is still typically done solo, because browser displays and search procedures have traditionally been designed for a single user.

Now tools are being developed by Microsoft and other companies that let people at different computers search as a team, dividing responsibilities and pooling results and recommendations in a shared Web space on the browser display as they plan a family vacation, for instance, or research a medical problem.

Meredith Ringel Morris, a computer scientist at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash., has created one of these collaborative tools, SearchTogether, now available in a test version as a free download at http://research.microsoft.com/searchtogether. The program is designed to work within the Internet Explorer 7 browser.

Source: New York Times

Posted in Search News, Web Search | No Comments »

Applicant and Examiner Citations in U.S. Patents: An Overview and Analysis

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Applicant and Examiner Citations in U.S. Patents: An Overview and Analysis (PDF; 329 KB)

Researchers studying innovation increasingly use indicators based on patent citations. However, it is well known that not all citations originate from applicants—patent examiners contribute to citations listed in issued patents—and that this could complicate interpretation of findings in this literature. In 2001 the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) began reporting examiner and applicant citations separately. In this paper, we analyze the prior art citations of all patents granted by the USPTO in 2001-2003. We show that examiner citations account for 63 per cent of all citations on the average patent, and that 40 per cent of patents have all citations added by examiners. We use multivariate regression and analysis of variance to identify the determinants of examiner shares. Examiner shares are highest for non-US applicants and in electronics, communications, and computer-related fields. However, most of the variation is explained by firm-specific variables, with the largest patent applicants having high examiner shares. Moreover, a large number of firms are granted patents that contain no applicant prior art. Taken together, our findings suggest that heterogeneity in firm-level patenting practices, in particular by high-volume applicants, has a strong influence on the data. This suggests that analysis of firm-level differences in patenting strategies is an important topic for future research.

Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers

Posted in Business and Economics, Citation Reports, Intellectual Property, Papers and Presentations, Source File | No Comments »

Top credit card issuers’ foreign transaction fees

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Top credit card issuers’ foreign transaction fees

When visiting a foreign country, you can conveniently use your American credit card for most goods and services. The part that’s not so convenient? Each purchase usually comes saddled with a foreign transaction fee, or what used to be called a currency conversion fee. Foreign transaction fees vary between bank, issuer, card typeIt’s wise to find out what the fee for your card is before you leave the country so you can budget your spending abroad. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done.

In 2006, Visa, MasterCard and Diners Club were slapped with a $336 million settlement for hiding foreign transaction fees. Customers who used those cards abroad between 1996 and 2006 were not notified they were being charged such fees, and a court declared the consumers were entitled to refunds.

After the settlement, some issuers chose to reveal the foreign transaction fees in their cards’ terms and conditions. For others, they remain absent. Tracking them down often requires a call to customer service or the corporate office, and even then, you’re not guaranteed an answer.

Source: CreditCards.com

Posted in Fast Facts, Source File | No Comments »

Top 50 Homeland Security Blogs

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Top 50 Homeland Security Blogs

While homeland security isn’t the same buzzword is was several years ago, it is still an important element and oft-discussed topic of American politics. From immigration laws to cyber-security to emergency preparedness to foreign policy, these blogs will bring you the latest discussions and research taking place with homeland security experts and novices alike. These blogs represent the government, researchers, professionals in the field, and every-day citizens and their offerings on the ever-evolving and important topic of homeland security.

Source: e-Justice Blog

Posted in Lists and Rankings, Source File, Web 2.0 | No Comments »

By Degrees: A Big Year for History

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

By Degrees: A Big Year for History

History departments conferred an almost unprecedented number of undergraduate degrees in 2005–06. The U.S. Department of Education reports that American colleges and universities conferred 33,153 new baccalaureate degrees—a 5.6 percent increase from the year before. This marked the largest number of degrees conferred in the discipline, with the exception of a few years at the peak of the baby boom.

Source: American Historical Association

Posted in Education, History, Source File, Statistics | No Comments »

News Briefs

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

News Briefs

+ LexisNexis to Integrate Business Contact Info From Jigsaw (Info Today NewsBreaks)

+ PC Magazine, a Flagship for Ziff Davis, Will Cease Printing a Paper Version (New York Times)

+ Cities Turn To Online Auctions In Bid For More Funds (AP, via TBO.com)

+ Bush’s exit to put new e-records system to the test (Computerworld)

Posted in Search News | No Comments »

NAS Announces Initiative to Connect Entertainment Industry With Top Experts

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

NAS Announces Initiative to Connect Entertainment Industry With Top Experts

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced today the creation of “The Science and Entertainment Exchange,” an initiative designed to connect entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers to help the creators of television shows, films, video games, and other productions incorporate science into their work. The Exchange represents the Academy’s first formal effort to reach out to the entertainment community and provide the creative minds of Hollywood with a direct connection to the creative minds of science.
…
Relying on the special connections available to the NAS, the Exchange can make introductions, schedule briefings, and arrange for consultations for anyone developing science-based entertainment content. Endorsed by the Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, Producers Guild of America, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and Women in Film, this new resource is being promoted to all levels of writers, directors, producers, and others in the entertainment industry. Professionals involved in the creative process may contact the Exchange to be connected with scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts for help with their productions and stories.

+ The Science and Entertainment Exchange

Source: National Academy of Sciences

Posted in Information Literacy, New Websites and Resources, Science, Search News, Source File | No Comments »

FTC Announces Health Care Booklet and Web Site for Seniors

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

FTC Announces Health Care Booklet and Web Site for Seniors

With all the sources of health information available – many of them online – it can be tough to tell fact from fiction, or useful products and services from those that don’t work or aren’t safe.

To help provide reliable sources of health information to seniors and their family members, caregivers, and friends, the Federal Trade Commission has developed a new booklet and Web site. Who Cares: Sources of Information About Health Care Products and Services, online at www.ftc.gov/whocares, urges older consumers to discuss their health-related decisions with doctors and other trusted health care providers. It also helps them:

  • find links to agencies and organizations that provide reliable information about generic drugs, hormone therapy, caregiving, surgery to improve vision, alternative medicine, hearing aids, Medicare fraud, and medical ID theft;
  • learn how to spot misleading and deceptive claims; and
  • find out who they can contact to ask questions, enlist help, or raise a concern about a health product or service that isn’t living up to its promise.

Source: Federal Trade Commission

Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »

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